My daughter, now a South Side senior, was intrigued by Red and Blue before she even entered the school's hallowed halls as a freshman. Although her brother never had the demeanor, or the inclination, to be a Red boy or a Blue boy, plenty of his female friends participated in the school-wide competition that has pitted girls against one another in a variety of athletic and non-athletic contests for the past 89 years. Yes, 89 years!
In the athletic arena, girls show their physical prowess in concentration and basketball relays, tumbling, a volleyball game, a tug of war, and a floor hockey exhibition where the gloves may be on, but all bets are off. On the non-athletic side, girls compete to win skit, costumes, dance and prop events. Even though there are some years when teachers complain that academics fly out the window during the six weeks of competition, for the most part, Red and Blue is a fun and rewarding experience. Hokey as it may seem to some, for many girls, Red and Blue is intoxicating - the cherry on top of their high school years.
Wind the clock back 89 years and it's not hard to understand how the whole notion of Red and Blue got started. In those days, high school girls had few, if any, outlets for healthy competition. Now, however, girls at South Side have sports teams that rival anything the boys have: basketball, softball, swimming, gymnastics, lacrosse and soccer, to name but a few. In fact, over the past several years, many of the girls' teams have won multiple state championships. Which begs the burning question, does the need still exist to carry on with Red and Blue?
One person who weighed in on the topic was Dr. Carol Burris, South Side's principal. I spoke to her a couple of weeks ago about another matter, but decided to switch gears and ask her opinion on Red and Blue. I was on the fence - uncharacteristically, as anyone who knows me will tell you - in search of enlightenment as both an editor and a parent.
When I brought up the competition, I quickly learned that it wasn't unfamiliar territory for Burris, who has also wrestled with finding a satisfactory answer. Recognizing that Red and Blue is just one time-honored tradition in a town that covets the familiar, she wholeheartedly supported its continued existence. The reason, according to Burris, is because it's the only event on the academic calendar when a girls' event packs the stands with as large a crowd as any boys' athletic event. She said that when as many fans come out to support girls' sporting events as they do boys', then and only then would there be no further need for Red and Blue.
Burris got me thinking about another aspect of this gender dilemma. The cheerleading squad, which my daughter has co-captained for the past two years, has never, to the best of my knowledge, cheered at a girls' athletic competition. It's not that they reject the idea - it's that they've never been asked to do so. In fact, I doubt it has ever crossed the minds of players, coaches or the cheerleaders themselves. But if what Burris said is true, that fans don't come out to watch girls compete, cheerleaders would be wasting their efforts at girls' events. Cheerleaders rev up the crowd as well as support the players, but if there's no one in the stands, what's the point?
I shared Burris's response to the Red and Blue question with a friend, a mother of two teenage sons who has been a harsh critic of the competition for years. Not only did she think the principal's answer reasonable, but she has been converted into a Red and Blue supporter. I'm now watching her closely for signs that she could become a zealot. Although I doubt she'll ever paint her face red or blue, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if, at next year's competition, she's spotted cheering the girls on from the bleachers. That is, of course, if she's lucky enough to get a ticket.
Comments on this story? RVCeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 285
